Friday blog: Long journey home from Athens - with two unplanned stopovers

Writer: Helena Bergström

The flight from Athens would take just over three hours - a direct SAS flight from Athens International Airport to Arlanda. Well, things don't always go as planned when you're travelling. Two stopovers and twelve hours later we arrived in Sweden ...

A wonderful week on Andros Island

The week on Andros was really amazing. Andros is a truly authentic Greek island. There is no airport and no gigantic hotels. Sure, there are tourists, but they come by ferry and take in the island's charming and slightly more small-scale hotels. Many of the tourists are also Greeks themselves, who may want a break from the hectic city life in Athens, which makes Greek island life feel even more authentic.

To top it off, we visited Andros at the end of September, i.e. at the end of the tourist season. If you want peace and quiet, this is the perfect time and place.

For us, of course, it was still little Intense. We were here on a press trip, and of course our hosts wanted us to see and experience everything the island has to offer: beaches, hiking trails, caves, historical sights, restaurants... We've already told you about Beaches of Andros, if the capital Chora and about a nice walk to Gerolimni waterfall. We'll tell you more soon!

A few days in Athens

As mentioned above, there is no airport on Andros, but it is still relatively easy to get here. You fly to Athens and then take a ferry that takes two hours. Since we flew to Athens anyway, we wanted to take the opportunity to discover the Greek capital for a few days.

This part of the trip was not part of any collaboration, but a completely private adventure. The same day we took the ferry back to the mainland from Andros, we booked a hotel via Booking.com. For us, location is important and we found a small room at the Athensotel hotel, which is within walking distance of pretty much everything you want to see and do in the capital of Greece.

We have to say that the hotel room was a different experience - with a door directly from the street outside into our room and a loft bed reached via a metal staircase - but still not bad. Apart from the lack of a kettle and drinking glasses, we were super happy and very comfortable.

What we did in Athens? We started quite "hard" with intensive touristy walking around the Acropolis, in 30 degree heat. We really liked Athens (such cosy restaurant streets!), but after the first day it was like we collapsed. I (Helena) got a headache and Peter caught a cold. If you've been following our adventures this spring and summer, you'll know that it's been extremely intense, especially the last few weeks...

On the last night we couldn't even go out to eat. I (Helena) felt sick from my migraine headache, so I ate some yoghurt and Peter helped himself to a chicken drumstick from the nearest supermarket. The next day it was time to get up early for the flight home...

Flight from Athens to Stockholm - with two stopovers

We grabbed a dry piece of bread in the hotel room in the morning and headed to the airport. We thought we could have lunch on the flight, which was due to depart at 11:20. The flight was an hour late. These things happen. We got up in the air, and then what rarely happens - a fellow passenger became seriously ill. Oxygen tubes arrived. The staff shouted over the loudspeakers for a doctor. Some passengers came to help. New announcements requesting a certain type of medicine. Then announcements that we must land immediately in the Bulgarian capital.

I Sofia paramedics rushed in and the sick passenger was rolled out to receive medical assistance. Time rolled on and finally we were told that we would take off again, but unfortunately it would be to Copenhagen instead of Stockholm. It was the only thing that could be arranged.

The staff thanked the passengers for their patience and offered free food. Or well, they apologised that there was hardly any food on board. Someone got a chocolate ball, someone else got a small bag of chips. Peter and I got a hamburger to share.

Late in the afternoon (or had it perhaps become evening?) we landed in Copenhagen. Now it was time for the crew to get off their passport, but they managed to get a new Danish crew. Now we just had to wait to take off... It took another hour or so, but finally it was time to leave for Stockholm, and as the sun set behind the horizon we landed in the Swedish capital.

This week: Grateful for ...

This week we are grateful for the fantastic week on the island of Andros. We're also grateful that SAS brought us home safely, and it felt good that they focused on the sick passenger first and foremost. We hope it ended well!

The week ahead

Now we're going to be home in Stockholm for a little while, and boy will it be nice! As much as we love travelling, we also have a need to "land" from time to time. It probably won't be for very long, but maybe two weeks anyway ...

You can expect reports on Greece, Italy and Germany, and in addition, several of our other writers have sent exciting stories ready for publication. Hope you'll join us! Have a great Friday and weekend!

Did you miss the last Friday Blog? Read it Greece at its best (and more from the week)